Singaporean actress Tan Kheng Hua's decision to further her career in Hollywood has paid off.

Posting on Instagram, the 57-year-old, who starred in 2018 blockbuster movie Crazy Rich Asians, wrote: "What an adventure 2019 and 2020 have been.

"I wished for more of what I love to do, to be with more people who love the same industry I have chosen to devote my life to, to see and experience new things and watch and be with people of great skill and commitment and to learn as much as I can because now, in my late 50s, I want to wonder and wander before my brain or my body gives out."

She noted that "it's been a bit over a year traipsing" around Los Angeles but auditions have landed her appearances in Netflix show Medical Police, crime series Magnum P.I. and medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

Now, she has scored another coup, being cast in the pilot of the reboot of Kung Fu - that now features a female protagonist - from American TV network The CW.

The original Kung Fu was a martial arts-western drama that ran for three seasons in the 1970s, starring David Carradine.

Tan will play the mother of the protagonist, with no word yet on who will portray her.

"I can't wait. Be humble and hardworking, Kheng. Step by step. You're going to have some new stories to tell," added Tan, whose daughter Shi-An was also in California for several months recently in a student exchange programme.

Of their experiences in the United States, Tan noted: " She rehearses me for my auditions and edits my self-tapes. When we are sitting at the dining table, silently on our own computers... I often look up, see her and feel it's her and me against the world.

"No one else knows and protects my inner-most heart like she does. She knows me."

When Shi-An had to return home, Tan revealed that "it feels so hard and yet so great to let her go, watch her go. 'Be young and free,' I tell her. So much of life to live. Together. And apart. And that is a beautiful thing".

The Straits Times

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